Ornithopod diversity in the Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia

PeerJ

卷:6

Elizabeth T. Smith¹  Matthew C. Herne²  Phil R. Bell³  Tom Brougham³ 

[1] Australian Opal Centre, Lightning Ridge, NSW, Australia;

[2] School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia;

[3] School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia;

关键词: Cretaceous;    Dinosauria;    Ornithischia;    Ornithopoda;    Griman creek formation;    Australia;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.6008

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

During the Early Cretaceous, dinosaur communities of the Australian-Antarctic rift system (Eumeralla and Wonthaggi formations) cropping out in Victoria were apparently dominated by a diverse small-bodied ‘basal ornithopod’ fauna. Further north, in Queensland (Winton and Mackunda formations), poorly-represented small-bodied ornithopods coexisted with large-bodied iguanodontians. Our understanding of the ornithopod diversity from the region between the Australian-Antarctic rift and Queensland, represented by Lightning Ridge in central-northern New South Wales (Griman Creek Formation), has been superficial. Here, we re-investigate the ornithopod diversity at Lightning Ridge based on new craniodental remains. Our findings indicate a diverse ornithopod fauna consisting of two-to-three small-bodied non-iguanodontian ornithopods (including Weewarrasaurus pobeni gen. et sp. nov.), at least one indeterminate iguanodontian, and a possible ankylopollexian. These results support those of previous studies that favour a general abundance of small-bodied basal ornithopods in Early to mid-Cretaceous high-latitude localities of southeastern Australia. Although these localities are not necessarily time-equivalent, increasing evidence indicates that Lightning Ridge formed a ‘meeting point’ between the basal ornithopod-dominated localities in Victoria and the sauropod-iguanodontian faunas in Queensland to the north.

【 授权许可】

Unknown